The Ohio Senate Just Passed an Extreme Antiabortion Bill

The Ohio State Senate passed a bill today that, if ratified in the State House and signed into law by Governor (and presidential candidate) John Kasich, will radically impact the legality, safety and accessibility of abortion in the state. The House is expected to vote February 9.

House Bill 294 would block funding from the Ohio Department of Health or the federal government to "any entity that performs or promotes non-therapeutic abortions." Reproductive rights experts argue the bill's broad wording means the law would cut off healthcare facilities and hospitals centers from funding for any service they provide. Among other things, support for work with clients who are victims of domestic violence or who are HIV-positive would be taken away—funds previously available under the Violence Against Women Act, for example.

"Yet again, Ohio politicians are advancing their extreme antiabortion agenda at the cost of Ohioans receiving essential health care," Dawn Laguens, executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, tells Glamour. "Today's vote could cost women, men, and young people access to programs like infant mortality prevention, HIV and STI testing, and evidence-based sex education. This is politics over policy. Across the state, we've seen an outpouring of support from Ohioans whose very health and well-being is at stake and who will not stand for these political attacks."

Emails obtained by the Associated Press (AP) in November show that it isn't just the state legislature forcing these restrictive anti-choice measures into law. Governor Kasich himself has been instrumental in crafting the language behind his state's anti-choice bills, despite attempting to maintain an air of neutrality on the subject to his constituents.

Because Kasich is running for president, abortion rights activists are particularly concerned. NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue said: "John Kasich is an anti-choice governor who has already shown himself to be a poor choice for the White House; if he signs legislation that toys with the health of so many Ohioans he will just reaffirm what women already know: that he's unfit for any office."